Blood Pressure News and Research

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Blood Pressure is the force of circulating blood on the walls of the arteries. Blood pressure is taken using two measurements: systolic (measured when the heart beats, when blood pressure is at its highest) and diastolic (measured between heart beats, when blood pressure is at its lowest). Blood pressure is written with the systolic blood pressure first, followed by the diastolic blood pressure (for example 120/80).

Precautionary guidelines on flu vaccine safety for allergic children

With the flu season looming and health officials calling for across-the-board immunization, some parents may wonder just how safe the egg-based flu vaccine is for children with allergies. Pretty safe, say pediatricians from Johns Hopkins Children's Center: Even though the flu vaccine contains egg protein, most children with egg and other food allergies can be immunized safely with a few basic precautions.

30 Sep 2010

New immunotherapy regimen improves survival rate in children with neuroblastoma: Research

Administering a new form of immunotherapy to children with neuroblastoma, a nervous system cancer, increased the percentage of those who were alive and free of disease progression after two years, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and fellow institutions.

30 Sep 2010

Patients' right to be involved in own medical care

Twelve years ago, then 28-year-old graduate student Brian Zikmund-Fisher was forced into the toughest choice of his life: Die from a blood disorder within a few years or endure a bone marrow transplant that could cure him or kill him in weeks.

29 Sep 2010

Ready-to-Use Cardene I.V. lowers acutely elevated blood pressure: CLUE study

Results from the CLUE study, a head-to-head comparison between Ready-to-Use Cardene I.V. (nicardipine) and labetalol in the emergency room, showed that Ready-to-Use Cardene I.V. lowers acutely elevated blood pressure more effectively than labetalol. These data were presented today at the annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

29 Sep 2010

CRP levels vary between ethnically-diverse populations: Study

C-reactive protein (CRP) levels vary between ethnically-diverse populations, and are only partly due to known differences in heart risk among these groups.A single risk level of CRP at 2 mg/L may over or under estimate the need for statin medication in different ethnic groups, especially if other risk factors are not considered.

29 Sep 2010

NIH Stroke Scale helps to predict mortality risk in hospitalized stroke patients

A new study finds a risk model developed using Get With The Guidelines-Stroke data is a practical bedside tool that can identify patients at the highest risk for dying when hospitalized after a stroke.

28 Sep 2010

Routine, short bouts of exercise can increase fitness levels

Trying to get fit but can't work it into your daily schedule? Incorporating even relatively short bouts of exercise into a daily commute appears to deliver significant rewards, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

28 Sep 2010

PGIC analysis indicates tapentadol ER tablets provide significant improvement in pain intensity

Phase 3 safety and efficacy data comparing tapentadol extended release (ER) tablets, an investigational pain medication, to placebo in patients with moderate to severe chronic low back pain have been published online by Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy. In addition, this study compared oxycodone controlled-release (CR) to placebo as an active control.

28 Sep 2010

Community health centers help those without insurance

In 2001, a Charleston, W.Va., a hospital and three community health centers set up a Community Access Program to help give low-income residents a primary health care system in the hopes of lowering emergency room care. The program has enrolled 5,000 people and "cut their hospital use in half," the Charleston Gazette reports.

28 Sep 2010

Wiecha receives grant to provide health education to African-American women with type-2 diabetes

BUSM Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs John Wiecha, MD, MPH, in the Department of Family Medicine, has received a National Institutes of Health American Recovery & Reinvestment Act Challenge grant from the National Library of Medicine. The grant, valued at more than $950,000 will fund a study to provide health education to African-American women with type-2 diabetes.

27 Sep 2010

Active commuting helps to stay fit

Men and women who walk or ride a bike to work appear more fit, and men are less likely to be overweight or obese and have healthier triglyceride levels, blood pressure and insulin levels, according to a report in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

27 Sep 2010

Daily dose of baking soda affects kidney function: Study

A daily dose of sodium bicarbonate baking soda, already used for baking, cleaning, acid indigestion, sunburn, and more slows the decline of kidney function in some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports an upcoming study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

27 Sep 2010

Astellas Pharma announces Phase IV study results of Lexiscan injection at ASNC session

Today Astellas Pharma US, Inc. announced results of a Phase IV study showing Lexiscan(regadenoson) Injection was comparable to placebo in causing a >15% decrease in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) in subjects with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are likely candidates for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) studies.

27 Sep 2010

Victorian health report card

Results from the 2008 Victorian Population Health Survey of more than 34,000 people are out. Broadly the picture is not too pleasing with signs of poor health like weight gain and disease. People are eating less fruit and vegetables, but smoking is down and asthma is less prevalent than it was earlier in the decade.

26 Sep 2010

Wealthy live longer than the poor: Study

According to the latest research poorer Australians die at least three years before their wealthy counterparts. The report entitled, “The Health Lies in Wealth” by the University of Canberra's National Centre for Social and Economic Modeling found that people in the lowest socio-economic group died on average at 79.6 years of age compared with 82.7 years for the highest socio-economic group. Factors that influence life expectancy include household income, work status, education level and support networks.

26 Sep 2010

Phase 3 clinical study demonstrates efficacy of metformin therapy in type 2 diabetes

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and AstraZeneca today announced results from a randomized, double-blind Phase 3 clinical study in adults with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on metformin therapy alone.

24 Sep 2010

Preclinical data of novel drug-resistant hypertension therapy presented at TCT 2010

Preclinical data of a novel therapy designed to treat drug-resistant hypertension (high blood pressure) was presented Tuesday, September 21st, at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2010 Conference in Washington, DC, by Christopher D. Owens, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor in Residence, Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, University of California, San Francisco.

24 Sep 2010

TJMS, Lily team up to raise awareness on diabetes epidemic

Angie Stone and Anthony Anderson, spokespeople for Lilly's Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered Diabetes initiative, are teaming up with The Tom Joyner Morning Show for the 9th annual Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day, taking place on September 28, 2010.

24 Sep 2010

Scientists discover molecular playbook to block cardiac hypertrophy

Like a well-crafted football play designed to block the opposing team's offensive drive to the end zone, the body constantly executes complex 'plays' or sequences of events to initiate, or block, different actions or functions.

24 Sep 2010

Negative childhood experiences impacting in the brains of Indigenous kids

Australia will not Close the Gap on Aboriginal health unless more is done to reverse the early life stress and trauma experienced by Indigenous children, new research suggests.

23 Sep 2010